Tehama County: Deal reached in Froome marijuana case

A plea deal has been reached in all cases involving long-time Tehama County resident and monster truck promoter Joseph Dailey Froome and his family.

Froome was initially facing 10 charges, including eight counts of money laundering, one count of possession of marijuana for sale and one count of cultivating marijuana, filed in 2009.

Froome was arrested in October 2009 along with his son-in-law, Daniel Miguel Ludwig, after TIDE agents found more than 400 marijuana plants and 30 pounds of processed marijuana in a warehouse off Baker Road in Red Bluff. The pair had maintained they were operating a legal medical marijuana patient collective.

Ludwig was facing charges of cultivating marijuana and possession of marijuana for sale.

In September 2012, the Tehama County District Attorney's Office filed additional charges of filing a false tax return and perjury by declaration against Froome and his wife, Kellie Mae Froome.

At a Friday Tehama County Superior Court appearance, Froome pled no contest to two amended counts, maintaining a place for sale or use of narcotics and failure to file corporate tax returns.

A no-contest plea in court is when the defendant does not admit guilt, but it is treated like a guilty plea in that the matter is sent forth to sentencing, said visiting Judge William Abel, a retired Colusa County judge who presided over the matter.

If Froome pays his 2008-2009 corporate taxes, which Froome said he was unable to do so since the police had seized his business records, and the Franchise Tax Board is satisfied, restitution will have been deemed paid.

If not, a restitution hearing would need to be set, Abel said.

Both charges Froome faces are felonies, carrying the possibility of incarceration in a state prison, according to a Tehama County District Attorney's press release.

Froome has entered a Harvey Waiver in both cases so that the court can consider all charges, including the 10 initial charges that will be dismissed, when the sentence is being considered by the judge, the release said.

As a part of the deal with the Tehama County District Attorney's Office, charges against Kellie Froome are expected to be dropped at the sentencing and Ludwig will be working with Tehama County Probation to determine his eligibility for deferred entry judgment, Assistant District Attorney Matt Rogers said.

If Ludwig is determined eligible for it, he would enter an 18-month program that upon completion would see the dismissal of the charge of possession of marijuana for sale, Rogers said.

Froome's attorney, William Panzer, said the deal was reached under a West plea, in which the defendant has not admitted to wrongdoing, but a consent to be punished as guilty in order to avoid going to trial. In Froome's case, it was in his best interest to resolve the matter because of the cost to his family, Panzer said.

"I have little doubt he would be exonerated if it went to trial," Panzer said.

Asked whether he thought the tax charges were filed to force a deal, Panzer said he had "no doubt about it."

"His personal taxes were up to date and the corporate taxes couldn't be done because his records had been seized and they weren't at his disposal," Panzer said. "I don't expect any jail time."

If there is jail time, Panzer said Froome should be eligible for alternative sentencing, he said.

"It has been devastating for them to go through this," Panzer said. "In the end, he'll probably walk away with a misdemeanor. It's a statement on our system that this has gone on. The DA here does not like prop 215."

During the time the case has been going on, rulings were made that it is legal to allow a few members to grow for the rest of a medical marijuana collective and that those members can contribute financially, Panzer said.

Froome and Ludwig will appear in court next at 9 a.m. on March 18.

--- Staff Writer Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, extension 115, or at jzeeb@redbluffdailynews.com Follow Julie on Twitter @DN_Zeeb